The council voted on a proposal to allow the mayor’s office to enter negotiations to lease port warehouses No. 9 and No. 10 to Incoa Performance Minerals to import the raw material for calcium carbonate, usually limestone, and process it for distribution.

Council members Brian Spencer and Larry B. Johnson were against the proposal until the language authorizing the negotiations was changed so that the agreement would have to come back to the City Council before it could be executed.

Most of the public, which included a few political candidates, spoke in favor of the proposal.

Bob Moulton, who said he was a pharmacist, pointed out that calcium carbonate is a common ingredient in antacid tablets like Tums.

"Let's use the calcium carbonate to stop the heartache at the port," Moulton said.

Political candidates who spoke in favor of the council voting to begin negotiations were mayoral candidates Drew Buchanan and Jonathan Green, Pensacola City Council District 4 candidate Peter Gaddy and Escambia County Commission District 4 candidate Bill Fetke.

However, a few members of the public were not in favor of the deal.

"Pensacola has finally found its niche in this world," said Leonard Swartz, who said he was on the planning board when the city adopted zoning rules and was worried about dust drifting over downtown. "Palafox Street has been rated one of the finest entertainment spots in the world. Why do you want to destroy that?"

Incoa Performance Minerals CEO Steve Creamer told the council the company would import the limestone from the Dominican Republic and it would be milled in Pensacola down to a grain 1 micron in size for use in high-value industrial products.

Creamer said the whole facility would be sealed to ensure the dust would not escape.

"We don't want dust (escaping)," Creamer said. "We sell dust. We can't afford for it to go into the atmosphere."

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The Port of Pensacola on Monday, June 11, 2018. Mayor Ashton Hayward's office announced Monday morning that it had hired Moffatt & Nichol, an international infrastructure advisory firm based in Southern California, to develop a new strategic plan for the port. Gregg Pachkowski/gregg@pnj.com

The Port of Pensacola on Monday, June 11, 2018. Mayor Ashton Hayward's office announced Monday morning that it had hired Moffatt & Nichol, an international infrastructure advisory firm based in Southern California, to develop a new strategic plan for the port. Gregg Pachkowski/gregg@pnj.com

The Port of Pensacola on Monday, June 11, 2018. Mayor Ashton Hayward's office announced Monday morning that it had hired Moffatt & Nichol, an international infrastructure advisory firm based in Southern California, to develop a new strategic plan for the port. Gregg Pachkowski/gregg@pnj.com

The Port of Pensacola on Monday, June 11, 2018. Mayor Ashton Hayward's office announced Monday morning that it had hired Moffatt & Nichol, an international infrastructure advisory firm based in Southern California, to develop a new strategic plan for the port. Gregg Pachkowski/gregg@pnj.com

The Port of Pensacola on Monday, June 11, 2018. Mayor Ashton Hayward's office announced Monday morning that it had hired Moffatt & Nichol, an international infrastructure advisory firm based in Southern California, to develop a new strategic plan for the port. Gregg Pachkowski/gregg@pnj.com

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The operations at the facility would initially call for about seven trucks leaving from the port every day and an average of three rail cars per day, but that would ramp up over time.

"When we get fully built out, if you look at a 12-hour operating shift for allowing trucks in and out, you're looking at less than one truck every 20 minutes at full build out," Creamer said. "And probably about 12 rail cars a day or 24 rail cars every other day, or however we work it out with the rail to pick them up."

City Administrator Eric Olson said the project needed more vetting and questioned that the Dominican Republic halted the export of calcium carbonate a few years ago.

"The mine is the most important thing," Olson said. "We should know about that before we enter into any lease."

After almost two hours of public speakers and debate, the point was made that the language of the recommendation would allow the mayor to sign a lease without the deal coming back before City Council.

When City Attorney Lysia Bowling confirmed the language would need to change for the proposal to come back to council, and City Council policy required public notice before leases could be signed at the port, the motion was made to change the language.

Now, the Hayward administration has the authority to begin negotiations, the question remains — as Councilwoman Sherri Myers pointed out during the meeting — will he?

"Based on what Mr. Olson has said, I don't know if they'll do that or not," Myers said.

Jim Little can be reached at jwlittle@pnj.com or 850-208-9827.

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The Port of Pensacola on Monday, June 11, 2018. Mayor Ashton Hayward's office announced Monday morning that it had hired Moffatt & Nichol, an international infrastructure advisory firm based in Southern California, to develop a new strategic plan for the port.(Photo: Gregg Pachkowski/gregg@pnj.com)